Boy used school-taught skills to avoid fire

CASTLE SHANNON, Pa. (AP) — A fire chief says a 10-year-old boy used fire safety skills he learned at school to save himself and lead his mom to safety from their burning Pittsburgh-area home.

Castle Shannon fire Chief Bill Reffner tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/ZCt3Xb) that the boy "knew to get down low and he crawled to the door and got out safely."

Reffner says the boy attends St. Bernard's School in nearby Mount Lebanon, where the local fire department offers fire prevention and safety training.

Reffner says the boy and his mother were awakened by a neighbor who saw smoke just before 5 a.m. Thursday and began banging on the door of their duplex unit. The chief says it appears the fire resulted from an electrical problem in a neighboring, vacant unit which is being renovated.